Spontaneous Resolution of an Electron-Deficient Tetrahedral Fe4L4 cage
Pia Bonakdarzadeh1, Fangfang Pan1, Elina Kalenius1
1Department of Chemistry, NanoScience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä (Finland).
Abstract:
A highly electron-deficient C3-symmetric tris(bipyridyl) ligand was prepared in four steps and used for the coordination of Fe(OTf)2, thereby resulting in the homochiral assembly of a new family of robust tetrahedral M4L4 cages. This homochiral T-symmetric cage containing a relatively large cavity of 330 Å(3) is capable of encapsulating an anionic guest, as was determined by mass spectrometry, (19)F NMR spectroscopy, and finally shown from its crystal structure. Moreover, crystallization of the cage from CH3CN led to crystals containing both (ΔΔΔΔ and ΛΛΛΛ) enantiomers, while crystallization from CH3 OH resulted in crystals containing only the right-handed (ΔΔΔΔ) cage. The difference in the crystal packing of the two crystal structures is discussed and a feasible explanation for the unique phenomenon among supramolecular cages--spontaneous resolution--is given.
Related Concept Videos
02:46Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
02:58Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
02:42Valence Bond Theory
03:02Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
04:01VSEPR Theory and the Effect of Lone Pairs
02:16Resonance and Hybrid Structures
Resonance Structures and Resonance Hybrids
The Lewis structure of a nitrite anion (NO2−) may actually be drawn in two different ways, distinguished by the locations of the N–O and N=O bonds.